Peering through the smoke and disorder of a battlefield, the day after its violence has been spent, it can be impossible to discern the great shifts and upheavals that are sure to follow. Amongst the chaos and debris, it is difficult to tell victor from vanquished, or indeed whether any side can claim such a dubious honor. The global economy is caught in just such a queasy calm after the storm, wrought by the near collapse of the financial system during the recent global financial crisis. The credit crunch pulled much of the rotten structure down behind it, but from the ruins, some are attempting to proclaim a new world order. They claim that global finance needs to be de-nationalized; will the global financial crisis truly be solve with a new world currency?

Many into three – then three into one?

The idea of a central global bank to replace the many national banks, and the pooling of national currencies into a three way regional currency system, has been proposed for many years. Sitting atop the engine of globalization, the international organizations of the UN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the central banks, have long wanted to aggregate greater power to themselves. Great shocks to the financial system serve to provide them with warning examples; they can point to the follies of the current system, and talk up their solution; a tri-polar, or even uni-polar currency system, of course, totally under their control.

The first pillar of the tri-polar world, the euro, has been long established. But despite it's inherent problems, which have become all too apparent with the crisis over Greece's solvency, the proponents of a new world currency have used it as a model for how we can move towards a centralized global financial system. After the euro, there will be the amero, a single currency zone for North America, and an equivalent for the Asian zone. Behind these new regional groupings, will stand a global reserve currency independent of all 3, the new world currency.

The Rise of the Phoenix

This isn't just a conspiracy theorist's fantasy – the UN itself has put its weight behind the concept. In its report on the need for financial system reform, from the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a new world currency is proposed; replacing the Dollar's current role as the global reserve currency. The major economies of the world will become supplicant to a global central bank, being required to stimulate, or depress, their economy's to support a managed system of fixed exchange rates.

Many national governments and politicians, reeling from the shock of the recent battle, seem ready to cede national authority required in this plan. With the coming financial crisis in the U.S., what will happen when the smoke has finally cleared, will there be a new world currency and global bank sitting astride the nations of the world; a phoenix risen from the ashes, unheralded, and unstoppable?